Recent data in China and the eurozone point towards a stabilisation of growth and have been met with relief. Although the US economy is slowing, growth should remain at a satisfactory level in the near term. Yet there are lingering concerns about the underlying strength of the global economy. The IMF has again scaled down its forecasts and only expects a modest growth pickup later this year. The flattening of the US yield curve fuels worries that growth will disappoint. The Fed insists it is confident about the outlook and patient in setting its policy. Markets have welcomed this accommodative message. Yet the signals sent by equity and bond markets about future growth are quite different. It only adds to the list of concerns.
Although losing steam, the economic activity in the US is seen keeping on a rather dynamic path in 2019. The International Monetary Fund still forecasts a 2.3% increase in GDP this year, while delivering an increasingly cautious message in the meantime. The IMF recently pointed out several risk factors, including the record high corporate debt ratio, the opacity and less stringent standards on the leveraged loan market, and stretched equity market valuations. Moreover, the inversion of the yield curve is virtually complete, which in the past has always been an early-warning sign of recession.
The eurozone’s manufacturing sector has been hard hit by the decline in foreign trade and persistently high uncertainty. Very open internationally, the eurozone is sensitive to global cyclical slowdowns. Internal macroeconomic fundamentals are still solid, and the rally in the services sector is showing resilience. The ECB has taken note of the longer than expected slowdown, and has opted once again for longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO). Numerous risks still cloud the forecast horizon, which could darken rather quickly if any of these risks were to materialise.
Since the middle of 2018, economic activity has virtually stagnated largely because of a slowdown in world trade. The most recent surveys and hard data confirm that weakness in the manufacturing sector continued in Q1 2019. Spearhead of the economy, the sector can become a source of vulnerability when world markets are less buoyant. However, Germany is able to support domestic demand. In 2019, the government will return to households and businesses a part of last year’s record budget surplus (more than EUR 50 bn).
Business confidence surveys are showing signs of levelling off. Hard data for January and February are rather positive. These factors are consistent with the economy keeping up growing at about 1.2%, which is our growth forecast for 2019. Although this is not very high, it is synonymous with the resilience the French economy is expected to show in an environment marked by uncertainties and downside risks. The main factor behind this resilience is the positive impetus of economic and fiscal policy, notably stimulus measures to boost household purchasing power, and the expected ensuing rebound in household consumption.
The Italian economy entered the third recession in the last ten years. In 2018, value added in the manufacturing sector recorded four consecutive contractions. Domestic demand disappointed, as both households and firms remained extremely cautious. Given the deterioration of the overall scenario, in the 2019 Economic and Financial Document recently approved, the Italian Government has lowered from 1% to 0.2% the GDP growth expected in 2019, with public deficit at 2.4% and the debt to GDP ratio at 132.6%. The structural deficit would worsen by 0.1%, to 1.5%. A progressive ageing of the population makes the scenario even more complicated.
In a morose economic environment, Spanish growth stands out as one of the most resilient in the eurozone, and it seems to have entered the year at a very similar pace to the one in H2 2018. The main factors behind this resilience can be found on the household front, where the savings rate has dropped back to the low point of 2008. With only a few days to go before the 28 April general elections, the electoral landscape is still highly fragmented. Regardless of the outcome, the winning party will find it hard to form a sustainable majority coalition.
Industrial enterprises were squeezed by tighter financing conditions in 2017 and early 2018, and then hit by a slowdown in production and revenue growth last year. These troubles have contributed to the deterioration of their payment capacity, resulting in a surge in defaults in the local bond market. The increase in defaults is an indicator of the financial fragility of corporates, and also seems to be going hand-in-hand with greater differentiation of credit risks by lenders and a certain clean-up of the financial sector. These trends are expected to continue in the short term as the authorities conduct a targeted easing of monetary policy. However, the persistence of the debt excess in the corporate sector will maintain high credit risks in the medium term.
After nearly five years in power, Narendra Modi’s track record is generally positive, even though the last year of his mandate was tough, with a slowdown in growth in Q3-2018/19. The main growth engines are household consumption, and more recently, private investment, thanks to a healthier corporate financial situation, with the exception of certain sectors. In full-year 2018, external accounts deteriorated slightly as a swelling current account deficit was not offset by foreign direct investment. A big challenge for the next government will be to create a more conducive environment for domestic and non-resident investment.
The hopes of seeing economic activity pick up following the election of Jair Bolsonaro have fallen. Some indicators point to a possible contraction in economic activity in Q1 2019 at a time where confidence indicators were seemingly improving. Meanwhile, the reform of the pension system – a cornerstone of President Bolsonaro's economic program – was presented to Congress in February where it is currently under discussion. Negotiations will likely be more protracted and be more difficult than originally expected. Indeed, since taking office, the popularity of the Brazilian president has sharply declined and relations between the executive and the legislature have strained.
Economic growth slowed in the first months of 2019, and is now close to its potential growth rate of 1.5% according to the central bank. A 2-point VAT increase on 1 January has strained real wage growth and sapped household consumption. Inflation (5.2% year-on-year in February) is still below the central bank’s expectations, and the key policy rate was maintained at 7.75% following the March meeting of the monetary policy committee. In the first two months of 2019, investors were attracted by high yields on Russian government bonds, despite the risk of further tightening of US sanctions. The rouble also gained 5% against the US dollar in Q1 2019.
Economic activity in Japan remains in a slump, and the slowdown observed in 2018 seems set to last. Manufacturing activity deteriorated in the first quarter. In the short and medium term, Japan will continue to be hard hit by the slowdown in China, its main trading partner. Demographics are still a major problem in a country where the over-65 age group continues to swell and now accounts for more than a quarter of Japan’s total population. It serves as a constant incentive to boost productivity gains through large-scale structural reforms in the goods and services markets as well as in the labour market.
By opting to leave the European Union (EU) without any exit plan, the United Kingdom has come face to face with an impossible choice. Week after week, the Brexit impasse has revealed the British Parliament’s incapacity to make decision, starting with the ratification of the divorce terms, the fruit of 2-years of negotiations by Prime Minister Theresa May. In the end, the Brexit was simply postponed. First set for 29 March, then 12 April, the deadline for exiting the EU has now been extended to 31 October (a Halloween treat?). This date could be moved forward if the UK finally manages to ratify the withdrawal agreement, which it has rejected time and again. But the most probable scenario is that the UK will extend its participation to the EU, at least for a while…
